Christmas Often Proves to Be a Nightmare for Individuals Living with Sound Sensitivity.

One young woman anticipates seeing her relatives over the holidays, but admits one of the only ways she'll cope is by relying on her noise-cancelling devices - particularly at Christmas dinner.

In her case, Christmas is a particularly difficult season as the noises of family members munching, slurping and nose-blowing make her feel intense distress.

"There's this feeling of immediate anxiety, my whole body will just tighten and it seems as if I'm in a threatening situation, and I need to stop these noises."

The individual has suffered from misophonia from a young age and for her that makes the holiday period "exceptionally stressful".

Misophonia is an intense sensitivity to particular auditory triggers, notably sounds coming from those around you.

The condition is widespread amongst adults. Experts discovered almost one in five people are affected by it.

Often it's noises linked to bodily functions that cause distress, as well as things like chewing, heavy breathing, and pen clicking.

Triggering Stress

Lottie says: "You encounter so many various auditory triggers at Christmas and that can be daunting and make you dread it.

"My family are understanding, but I'm very aware that I don't want to upset others. It's like a constant struggle of managing my symptoms to guarantee the event goes smoothly."

So it's easy to understand why the most wonderful period can rapidly become a source of agony for those with the condition.

Triggers that may be considered normal, like someone slurping a Buck's fizz, rustling a roll of wrapping paper, or eating the holiday meal can trigger a strong emotional response that can even lead to them avoiding social settings altogether.

She, a 21-year-old student, who has struggled with misophonia since aged 10, explains the approach she intends to use is to listen to music to cope. Typically, she would frequently go in a different room to avoid triggering sounds.

She says her condition is worse around people she's closest to, so the holidays is always "challenging".

"There is pressure to be around loved ones, and I wish to, but it's exhausting on all levels.

"It's like this intense irritation takes hold, which can feel awkward, or I'll feel panicked and immediately start crying and then fight-or-flight will take over.

"It may seem as if I'm being oversensitive and overreacting, but it's tough to describe unless you've experienced it."

Three Ways to Manage

For those affected then there are various strategies you can attempt to manage the situation, according to specialists.

1. Imagine Something Else: Creative thinking is crucial. Work on connecting the specific noise causing distress with an unrelated image. As an illustration, try to imagine someone's slurping is just a gentle stream. This technique is to retrain your mind that the sound triggering you isn't harmful.
2. Use Humor: Introduce playfulness and turn the annoying sound into a competition with the person. As an example, if someone is crunching loudly try copying the noise. By joining in, instead of feeling like the sound is being imposed on you, you become an engaged person. And the challenge should help distract your brain and make you somewhat less sensitive.
3. Create a Scenario: Another technique is to try to create a little story about the reason someone creating the sound is doing it. For example if someone was sniffing, perhaps they're not feeling well or are troubled. The idea is altering the perception of the sound. Even though the sound stays the same, your interpretation of it moves from being irritating, to feeling a little more neutral about it.